Court will not review Nebraska tenant law

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision not to review a Nebraska city's ordinance that bans renting homes to immigrants living in the country illegally could open the door to similar laws elsewhere, supporters said Monday, though they're likely to encounter fresh legal challenges.

Attorney Kris Kobach, who defended the Fremont, Neb. ordinance, said Monday's decision gives a "bright green light" for other cities within the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that want to adopt such laws. The circuit includes Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and the Dakotas.

Still, any city that chooses to adopt such an ordinance would almost certainly face a costly legal fight from advocacy groups that are working to stop them. Earlier this year, the justices declined attempts by two other towns — in Pennsylvania and Texas — to revive similar laws that had been struck down by lower courts. But unlike the Pennsylvania and Texas ordinances, the Fremont rules do not impose penalties on immigrants.

The Fremont ordinance requires renters to get a $5 permit and swear that they have legal permission to live in the United States. First approved in 2010, the ordinance has survived several legal challenges and an attempt to repeal it at the ballot box in February.

The high court on Monday let stand an appeals court ruling that found the ordinance does not discriminate against Latinos or interfere with federal immigration laws.

Creighton University professor David Weber, an immigration law expert who has followed the Fremont case, said it's possible the court passed on it because it didn't feel the issue was ripe for review. But he said the court might decide to address the issue later if copycats start to emerge.

"This is a final and complete victory for Fremont," said Kobach, who serves as Kansas' secretary of state. "It is beyond question that every city in the 8th Circuit has the ability to adopt the Fremont ordinance, word for word."

But Thomas Saenz, president and general counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, said Fremont could still face challenges to its ordinance. The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska has said it will keep close tabs on the city and will consider a new lawsuit if tenants report discrimination. The federal appeals panel that upheld the ordinance in June left an opening for future lawsuits if people can show the rules have resulted in discrimination.

"These laws are ugly, unproductive and inconsistent with our national values," Saenz said. "There has to be a very serious opposition to these kinds of laws, because they're anti-business and anti-human rights."

The number of Hispanics in Freemont jumped from 165 in 1990 to 1,085 in 2000 and 3,149 in 2010, mostly because of jobs at the nearby Hormel and Fremont Beef plants. However, supporters of the measure insist it does not target Hispanics.

Fremont Police Chief Jeff Elliott said 140 people have applied for licenses since the city began enforcing the ordinance on April 10. "It's lower than what we had expected at this point," Elliott said.

The Supreme Court has held since 2012 that immigration issues are largely a matter for federal agencies, not local governments, to regulate.

The Associated Press